Summer is over, fall is here, and it is time for the September edition of The Secret Recipe Club. I couldn’t participate last month because of our family vacation, but I really do enjoy this monthly event. And The Secret Recipe Club has become so popular and has so many members that we’ve been split into three separate groups. I am part of Group A…obviously the best group of the bunch, being the first, the alpha, the top dog! And this month, I was charged with creating a recipe inspired by a blog called Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. Now if that’s not an interesting blog name, I don’t know what is! It’s written by Lisa, and her tagline is “a whole lot of food with a side of baseball”. Well, doesn’t she sound like a nice, approachable sort of blogger?
And then I took a look at her recipes and I was floored. When it comes to pastries and desserts, this woman is good. And by that I mean CRAZY good. I have to confess, I was fairly intimidated by her creations, many of which are quite elaborate, with multiple steps and moving parts. Okay, I made that up about the moving parts, but her cakes are tremendous and have several layers, each with their own special texture and flavour. For example, in her recipe index I was immediately drawn to a recipe called Green Tea-Pistachio Mousse Cakes. But when I clicked on it, I knew instantly that I could never recreate such a gorgeous concoction. It had so many different elements and I’d never have the time or the patience to do them all. I considered just making the matcha-flavoured mousse, but compared to her creation, it just seemed so….boring.
I rifled through her blog many a time, wondering what I could make that was a little simpler that I could also adapt into a low carb treat. Because although I do some conventional baking for the rest of my family, I do like to partake of the goodies too. And I kept coming back to a recipe that isn’t actually posted on her blog, although she did make it herself and linked to it. The original is from the Domino Sugar website. The name, and Lisa’s photos, sold me. Tiramisu cookies, a chocolate sandwich cookie with not one, but two fillings: mascarpone and chocolate, both with a hint of coffee in them. How could I resist? I was fairly certain that I could make a decent low carb version of the cookie and the chocolate filling, and thankfully mascarpone is low carb anyway. And the rules of the SRC are simply to make something from our assignee’s blog, with our own twists or adaptations as we see fit. For these cookies, I saw fit.
The Results: These were really, really good. But…there had to be a “but” in there, right? They just didn’t taste as much like real tiramisu as I had been hoping. Tiramisu is a lovely, light-textured dessert that tastes of coffee and mascarpone with a hint of chocolate. These cookies, although delicious, tasted mostly of chocolate. And I don’t think it was my low carb modifications that was the culprit here, as I tried to keep the proportions of flavours similar to the original recipe. The mascarpone, which has such a lovely sweet flavour on it’s own, was almost entirely lost and overtaken by the chocolate. And I really couldn’t get much of a sense of the coffee flavouring either. (Let me reiterate that although I found the inspiration on Lisa’s blog, this was not her recipe originally).
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As my husband said, if he hadn’t known that they were supposed to be tiramisu-flavoured, he would have just thought that they were really delicious sandwich cookies. And my kids loved them, which is always a plus. So I can definitely recommend them overall. But here’s what I would do next time: Because there is chocolate in the cookie, I would skip the cocoa in chocolate filling and just flavour it with coffee. I also might consider increasing the mascarpone filling to allow it to come through a little more. But I will give you the recipe as is, and you can make the changes you see fit.
And can I recommend heading on over to Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives? You won’t regret it, she is a master at elaborate desserts!
Tiramisu Cookies
Cookies:
1 cup almond flour
3 tbsp coconut flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp instant coffee
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated erythritol
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
16 drops stevia extract
Mascarpone Filling:
4 oz mascarpone cheese
1 tbsp coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua
Chocolate Filling:
1/3 cup powdered erythritol
2 tsp cocoa powder (omit if you want more coffee flavour)
2 tsp strong-brewed coffee
For the cookies, preheat the oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum. Break up any clumps with the back of a fork.
In a large bowl, cream butter with erythritol until fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla and stevia and beat until just combined. Add almond flour mixture in two additions, beating after each.
Roll spoonfuls of dough into 3/4 inch balls and flatten with palms to 1/4 inch thickness. Bake cookies 10 minutes or until slightly puffed and firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool on pan.
For the mascarpone filling, stir coffee liqueur into cheese and whisk until thoroughly combined.
For the chocolate filling, combine ingredients and whisk until combined.
To assemble, spread the bottom of one chocolate cookie with the mascarpone filling and another with the chocolate filling. Press together to make a sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies. Chill in refrigerator 2o minutes to set fillings.
Makes 12 cookies. Each cookie has 6.3g of carbs and 3g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 3.2g
Lauren at Keep It Sweet says
What a great SRC selection! Even if the flavor wasn't spot on, these look fantastic!
Curt says
That sounds really tasty with the cheese filling.
Melissa @IWasBornToCook says
These look delicious! Good choice.
Foodiva says
Whatever these cookies tasted like, they should be called only one thing – DEEELICIOUS! I really must check out the blog you were assigned, she sure sounds interesting….and I do like elaborate desserts!
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc. says
love the sound and look of these!
RJ Flamingo says
Well, I think you did a terrific job with these, and your proposed modifications sound spot-on. I'm always for boosting the coffee quotient! 😉
Lisa says
I'm so blushy and flattered by your sweet comments, and I totally agree thet the tiramisu cookies did not taste at all like tiramisu, but were a good basic chocolate sandwich cookie. I think I mentioned that in the post, but not sure, will have to look. In any event, they look great and I love that you made them gluten-free. Glad to discover your blog! You have some mad, delicious skills yourself 🙂
Ginny says
Yum! I love it when I see things come full circle: the author of Parsley, Sage, Desserts, and Line Drives was assigned to my blog.
These look incredible. Great photos!
Ginny
Pretend Chef says
These sound so delicious and look like a great sandwich cookie. Great SRC pick. I'd like to start making elaborate desserts with success. I'm a bit intimidated at the moment.
Kim Bee says
Such a great choice. These look so moist and yummy. Wonderful cookie.
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says
Oi, tiramisu is one of my greatest weaknesses! And now you've put into a cookie and made it low-carb?! I love it!
Lacy says
These cookies look amazing, and they're tiramisu?! LOVE!
Parsley Sage says
Sorry there was a 'but' for you but they look pretty amazing to me! Secret recipe club is so much fun 🙂 Well done!
Astrid says
YUM!
Erin says
The cookies look great! I am not a coffee fan, so I think I might like these cookies as is!
Send me an email – you were the winner of my giveaway! Need your address, and I will get it in the mail!
Deeba PAB says
YUM YUM YUM. I love Lisa's blog and love what you picked. Great choice for the SRC, and very tempting!
Karen says
I have never been the biggest tiramisu fan, so maybe these would be perfect for me! They do look like fantastic sandwich cookies, no matter what.
S.V. says
I will have to try these…. my husband loves tiramisu but I don't like the texture. This maybe the happy medium for both of us. 🙂
Becka (The Elegant Eggplant) says
These look SO good. A tiramisu bar just opened near my bf's apt in NYC and they have NUTELLA TIRAMISU. It is sooo good!!
Jill@MadAboutMacarons says
You're a clever cookie. Tiramisu transformed into a healthy cookie? Brilliant.
The Mom Chef says
Bravo on your choice, though I'd have loved to see that pistachio mousse cakes. I wonder if it would have been better if you'd have used your own version of a ladyfinger cookie sandwiching the chocolate and mascarpone. That sounds more like the real deal.
I'll have to go check out the baseball blogger. 🙂
judee@glutenfreeA-Z says
I love that you made these gluten free! I can't wait to try them. The pistachio mousse sounds good, but I probably would have been intimidated with it too. Cookies and filling I can do. Great choice.
Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen says
Now there's a dessert I haven't seen in cookie form before, such a great concept.
Rachel @ Not Rachael Ray says
Oh yum! These look fabulous! However, I'm thinking group B is the best 🙂
naomi says
Love this cookie creation. Two of my favorites: cookies and tiramisu. Two in one is always a winner!
Peggy says
great choice for SRC! These cookies sound amazing – bummer that they didn't taste as much like tiramisu as you'd hoped – but that just gives you reason to make them again, right? =)
Lisa~~ says
Lisa's blog is amazing and you picked a great recipe. Sorry that they didn't have that tiramisu punch but they do look delicious.
If you haven't already, I'd love for you to check out my SRC recipe this month: Welsh Cakes.
Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook
Chef Dennis says
those cookies do look delicious! I really need to try working with other flours, your results are amazing!
Cassie @ Bake Your Day says
Tiramisu is definitely my favorite dessert and these cookies sound like a perfect match! The texture looks amazing, I can't believe they are low carb!
Kari says
Goodness – that you felt intimidated really says something! I will be checking out that blog though, albeit (I suspect) as a daydreaming site rather than a recipe ideas one 🙂
For your part, these look very impressive, and very delicious.
Sara says
These cookies look really tasty! 🙂
Foodness Gracious says
Very well put! Umm I think you might want to go back and check group C, this is definetely the more superior group of the bunch…yes I am in group C 🙂
Take care..
Cooking Rookie says
tiramisu and chocolate – how can it be anything but delicious! Great pick for SRC!
thelittleloaf says
Your cookies look gorgeous – even if they're not quite the real tiramisu deal. As you say, if you didn't know it was meant to be tiramisu, they'd be absolutely delicious! Thanks for making me aware of PSDLD blog too – it's fab, if a little daunting in its brilliance 🙂
Jess says
These look amazing!
Lizzy says
Oh, what yummy little gems!! I love that you've made tiramisu into a cookie (and low carb to boot!!!). Brilliant~
briarrose says
What a cool flavor in a cookie. A little tinkering would make that tiramisu flavor pop I think. Fun recipe.
Katherine Martinelli says
Oh man you had me at tiramisu anything – but sandwiched in a cookie? And low carb and gluten-free? Yes please!
meettheswans.com says
Tiramisu Cookies sound amazing… and I'm sure they're delicious even if they aren't quite like the original dessert!
Farmgirl Gourmet says
YUM! I could eat that stack of 4 lickity split! Delish!
BigBearswife says
they look and sounds super wonderful!
Sandi G says
As cookies?! Wonderful! 🙂
Magic of Spice says
What a glorious flavor for a cookie! Excellent job on the recipe, these are gorgeous 🙂
Finding Avocadoland says
I remember when I was 12 years old or so I tried to make tiramisu for my parents… I'm pretty sure I just poured a bottle of Kaluha into a glass full of cake. They pretended to love it 🙂 I will for sure be making this recipe!
Torviewtoronto says
delicious looking cookies looks wonderful
love the new look
regards
Akheela
Amanda says
Hi Carolyn! So sorry about your SRC assigned blogger having computer issues! I found a volunteer to make something and she posted about it here http://dreamaboutfood.blogspot.com 🙂
Tiffany says
These look amazing! I'm going to ignore the "but" in your post! 😀
Beloved Green says
Just amazing!
Megan says
HI Carolyn – I love this secret recipe club thing you've got going on…and the cookies are to die for. I want to live at your house and taste all of your goodies! I also checked out the matcha pistachio dessert number and oh my my! You weren't kidding!
chefpandita.com says
mmm even if they didn't taste much like tiramisu I wouldn't complain about chocolate flavor 🙂 love how your recipes are always low carb and overall healthy!
Elies_Lie says
Tiramizzu in a cookies! I'm mouthwatering already!
Tq for the recipe! 😉
kita says
Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives is an amazing blog with beautiful recipes! I think you did an awesome job with your SRC post!
Island Vittles says
how delicious do these look? AMAZING! I don't know how I missed these until today…perhaps is because I'm only in lowly group B of the SRC 😉 Theresa
marla {family fresh cooking} says
Yay! Love the SRC & these are fun cookies!
Cara says
Yum! I happen to have some extra ricotta kickin' around, so these may be in order (so I guess I might end up with something more appropriately called coffee-cocoa cannoli cookies, but that sounds just as divine, right?)
Shelby says
I love tiramisu so much that is what I have requested for my birthday cake at work in a couple weeks! I'm sorry this didn't taste so much like it because its a great concept! I'm definitely off to check out her blog!
ButterYum says
What a great post, and I'm so appreciative of your honest review of these cookies. The title sure got my attention, but I'll have to make a note of your suggestions if I ever make them.
I eager to do my first SRC on Monday – hope you'll stop by for a visit.
🙂
ButterYum
scratch-made wife says
Tiramisu is my favorite dessert in the whole world. I'm sure your little cookies are amazing, even if they don't taste exactly like tiramisu. They look great to me!
Colie's Kitchen says
Hi this is Nicole from Colie’s Kitchen I just discovered your blog and wanted to drop by and say hi. I am now a new follower. I would love to have you stop by Colie’s Kitchen if you get a chance. http://www.colieskitchen.com
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc. says
wow too good! You had me at tiramisu